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A 


LECTURE, ! 

ON Tllfi 


TOPOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 

I 
111 




OF 

NEW -YORK. 1 

1 



BY H O K A T I O SEYMOUR 



UTICA, N. Y. 

T). C. GROVK, PRINTER, IJAILY OBSEKVEB OKFICK. 113 GEXESEK STREET, 

1856. 



A LECTURE, 



ON THE 



TOPOGEAPHY AND HISTORY 



NEW-YORK 



BY HORATIO SEYMOUR. 



UTICA, N. Y. 

B. C. GROVE, PRINTER, OBSERVER OFFICE, 113 GENESEE STREET. 

1856. 



.352. 



jLii Exch 



LECTUEE. 



To understand tlie history of New York, it must 
be considered in connexion witli the geograj^liical and 
topographical aspects of the State. The conditions of 
every people are affected by the position and charac- 
ter of the country they occupy. Like Antaeus, they 
must trust to the Earth for the support of their strength 
or the renewal of their vigor, when exhausted by the 
struggles of war, or the fluctuations of commerce. The 
physical peculiarities of this State have an unusual in- 
influence over its fortunes. They are enduring causes 
of its greatness and power. They have in the past, 
and they will in the future, affect the course of events 
in our country. 

The history of New York has been unjustly neglect- 
ed. We have overlooked the evidences of virtue, 
wisdom and patriotism which its annals afford. The 
people of this State have not been inspired with the 
veneration due to its founders. An indifference to 
national history, has ever been deemed an indication 
of national decay, for it implies an insensibility to 
honorable events and patriotic actions. The Bible 



eoraits it among tlie virtues of a people, to remember 
witli reverence tlie counsels and deeds of their fathers. 
It makes snch piety, one of the guarantees of con- 
tinued prosperity. 

Local histories, although of less dignity and im- 
portance, are of great value. They preserve the 
memory of humble events, which throw light upon 
manners and eustoms and the condition of society. 
They also invest familiar scenes about ns with con- 
tinued interest. If it is wise to gain wealth with care' 
and toil, that we may adorn our houses with paintings 
or statuary, and draw around us objects which gratify 
our tastes, surely it is most unwise not to store our 
minds with the knowledge which renders the hills and 
plains and rocks and floods around us objects of ani- 
mating associations and memories. 

My subject partakes of the character of both general 
and local history. It concerns events of humble origin 
which have grown into mighty existing influences ; as 
well as marked occurrences, which at all times have 
excited general interest. 

In my efforts to present a sketch of New York 
within the narrow limits of a lecture, I am embarrassed 
with the multitude of facts and considerations asso- 
ciated with its first settlements, its wars, its legisla- 
tive and constitutional progi'ess, and its advancement 
in commerce and the arts of life. Much has been 
written about New York. Valuable contributions 
have been made to our stores of knowledge with 
regard to it, but the history is yet to be written, 
which fi'om the collected mass of materials, shall ex- 



tract tlie pliilosopliy of its events and present a just 
conception of our State. 

I shall only attempt to rougli-sketcli its physical 
outlines, and consider them in connexion with the pro- 
minent points of its History. 

The Hudson River, Lake George, and Lake Cham- 
plain, lie in a narrow and rugged valley reaching 
from the Bay of New York to the St. Lawrence. This 
is intersected at right angles, about midway, by the 
valley of the Mohawk. These deep channels consti- 
tute the great base lines of our State. Its triangular 
form corresponds with their courses. They demand a 
particular descrij^tion, for they are intimately con- 
nected with the history of New York. They have 
been the war paths of savage bands and of disciplined 
armies. They are the scenes of the most interesting 
and important occurrences in the history of the state 
and nation. They create our commanding and pecu- 
liar relationship with other sections of our country. 

The harbor of New York, with its accessory bays, 
its connexion with Long Island Sound, its confluent 
rivers and its different passages to the Atlantic, excites 
the admii-ation of all who study its wonderful adjust- 
ments. From this bay you float up the Hudson, past 
the cliffs of the Palisades, to the rocky fastnesses of the 
Highlands. Here, every analogy of Nature leads you to 
look for rocky barriers, but you are borne by the Atlan- 
tic tide a hundred miles beyond the mountain chain 
which elsewhere divides the valley of the Mississippi 
from the Atlantic coast. Nothing can be more impres- 
sive than the Ocean's deep and sullen ebb and flow far 
down among the great foundations of those stern grey 



heights. They stand as if arrested here when pressing 
upon the river current, while, north and south, they 
stretch far away in unbroken chains to the St. Law- 
rence or the Gulf of Mexico. Elsewhere, rivers dash 
down the steep sides of the AUeghanies ; but where 
these crowd upon the Hudson, they are cleft sheer 
down to their very roots. An enduring gateway is 
made through stern portals for ships of war, for ves- 
sels deeply laden with commerce, and for iron tracks 
upon which swift engines drag long trains of cars 
at the foot of rude cliiis, or through tunnels which 
pierce their granite buttresses. Ranged for many 
miles along both banks of the Hudson, had the AUe- 
ghanies thrown a single spur across its stream, how 
would it have changed the course of events in our 
land ! Impressed with this unbroken ocean current 
through the Highlands, the observant Indian called it 
" the river of the mountains." Continuing up its valley, 
we find lying in its northern depression, separated from 
the waters of the Hudson by a short portage, the wild 
and pictm^esque Lake George and Lake Champlain. 
From the Bay of New York to the waters of the St. 
Lawrence, this great vaUey divides the eastern part 
of our state and all of New Eno;land from the rest of 
our confederacy. In its whole length, its wild scenery 
accords with its striking legends. Its lower section, 
along the Hudson, was the strong hold of om^ country 
in the Revolutionary struggle. It was the fortress of 
our liberties. Its rocky points, its mountain heights, 
its deep ravines, are associated with the history of the 
war for Independence. There is hardly a spot which 
does not bear the marks of invading assa.ults or of the 



intrenclied defences of our armies. The waters in tlie 
upper valley, wliich. flow to tlie north, are still more 
deeply tinged with blood, and have wilder and older 
traditions of savage contests and of disciplined war. 
No other part of our continent has witnessed so 
much of relentless war, of bloody massacres and of 
fierce battles, as have startled the echoes of its beauti- 
ful lakes, and disturbed their wonted quiet and re- 
pose. 

The Mohawk, which intersects this valley, is inti- 
mately associated with it in historical interest and 
geographical importance. I speak of this valley, with 
its extensions to Oswego and Western New York. In 
passing up its banks from its confluence with the Hud- 
son, we find that it also breaks through one of the ranges 
of the Alleghanies. In the county of Oneida, it flows 
through level lands, which, expanding as they stretch 
away to the west, are at length merged in the great 
plain of the Mississippi valley. At Rome, the waters of 
the Mohawk, when swollen by floods, mingle with those 
which flow into Lake Ontario. These physical pecu- 
liarities of the valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk 
produce remarkable results. Not only are the waters 
of the harbor of New York and the St. Lawrence 
connected by the valley I have described, but, turning 
up the Mohawk, the light canoe of the savage hunter 
could float into the tributaries of Lake Ontario, and 
making a portage around the falls of Niagara, continue 
on its way through Green Bay, the Fox and Wiscon- 
sin rivers, into the Mississippi, and thence up the Mis- 
souri into the very gorges of the Rocky Mountains : a 
distance, by the course of the streams, of more than four 



8 

thousand miles. The entire length of the same route 
can now be traversed by a vessel of burthen by the 
aid of artificial channels. But a single mile separates 
the head waters of the Missouri from those of the 
Columbia river. From the mouth of that stream on 
the Pacific to the Bay of New York, with the excep- 
tion of this one mile, there is an unbroken silver chain 
of water. The hand of the Almighty foretold the 
destruction of one power in letters of fire upon the 
walls of its palaces. Has it not written across this 
broad continent, in a long line of rivers, lakes and 
floods, that we, who are bound together by this 
wonderful channel of commerce, should remain one 
people living under one government? The courses 
of the Hudson and Mohawk, deeply grooved into the 
surface of our State, thus give us the control of the 
commerce between the twenty thousand miles of na- 
vigation on the lakes and rivers of the West, and the 
Atlantic Ocean and the maratime world at the East. 

But to show more clearly its commanding position, 
I must call your attention to another remarkable fact 
in the geography of New York. The hills on either 
side of the Mohawk gradually rise up to elevations 
which pour from their outward, or Northern and South- 
ern slopes, the sources of great rivers which traverse 
other States. The waters which drain from our territo- 
ries, flow by the principal commercial cities of the 
Union. From Northern New York, they run into Lake 
Ontario and the St. Lawrence, passing by Montreal 
and Quebec ; by the Hudson, which is exclusively a 
river of our State, into the Harbor of New York ; 
from its south-east section into the Delaware, past 



Philadelpliia into the Delaware bay ; by tlie Susque- 
haniia past Baltimore into tlie Chesapeake ; by the 
sources of the Allegany into the Ohio, past Cincinnati 
and New Orleans, into the Gulf of Mexico * Thus 
our State enjoys the apparently inconsistent advantages 
of having the deepest channels for commerce with the 
west, and at the same time, of being at the head of 
the great valleys of the United States. This is not 
a fact of mere geographical interest. It gives us 
substantial advantages. It enables us to penetrate 
with our Canals and Raiboads into all parts of the 
country, by following the easy and natural routes of 
rivers. We can go into twenty States and into two- 
thirds of the territories of the Union, without leaving 
the courses of valleys. No other Atlantic State can 
make a communication between its Eastern and 
Western borders without overcoming one or more 
mountain ridges. Thus, then, are we situated. One 
angle of New York rests upon the Atlantic, another 
reaches North to the St. Lawrence, while the third 
stretches West to the great lakes and the valleys and 
streams connected with the Mississippi. We are 
placed at the heads of the great valleys, while the 
Mohawk and the Hudson unite them all and give us 
command of the commerce of our country. 

I have particularly described the valleys of the 
upper and lower Hudson and of the Mohawk, and of 
the great rivers which flow from our territories, on ac- 
count of their commercial importance, their historical 

* A single Railroad (the New York and Erie) touches, at Dunkirk, the 
waters which discharge into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and crosses in its 
course all of the divergent streams I have mentioned.- 
B 



10 

interest and tlieii' physical peculiarities, and also 
because they will continue to influence the fortunes of 
our country. They will ever be the pathways for 
great events. 

When our continent was discovered, the plains of 
the Mohawk and of western New York, were held 
by a confederacy of Indians, who had subdued 
the country from north of the great lakes to Geoi'gia, 
and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. While 
theii' conquests were due in some degree to their 
bravery in war, yet they owed much to the geo- 
graphical peculiarities I have described, which gave 
them easy communications between themselves and 
avenues which led into the countries of their enemies. 
Mountain ranges divided theu' foes into different com- 
munities, while they were able to pour their united 
forces through the valleys I have mentioned. They 
held in sul^jection numbers far greater than their own, 
because they could attack and subdue isolated tribes. 
Their war paths led along the Hudson, the Delaware, 
the Susquehanna, and the Allegany, and the margins of 
the great lakes. Nature marked out for them the 
same strategy which Napoleon used with such wonder- 
ful success, that of maintaining a compact force, of 
dividing his enemies and bringing the greater power 
to bear upon the point of attack. That the Iroquois 
understood the value of union, is shown by their con- 
federacy; that they appreciated the importance of 
their geographical position is proved by the figure of 
speech by which it was designated. It was called the 
" long house" or castle, and the different tribes were 
made guardians of its outlets and defences. The 



11 

Senecas in western New York were tlie keepers of the 
great western gate wliicli led into tlie valley of tlie 
Mississippi, and the Mokawks, tke fiercest and most 
powerful clan, tke keepers of tke eastern door or gate 
from wkick tkey issued to conquer tke Algonquins in 
Canada, or tke Mokicans and otker tribes of New 
England. 

After tke discovery of tkis Continent and its set- 
tlement by Europeans, tke wars and national ani- 
mosities of France and Eng^land were transferred to 
America. In tkis remote part of tke eartk, far away 
from tke observation of tke world, in tke deep re- 
cesses of tke forests, a bloody and jDrotracted warfare 
was waged. In its struggles, some of tke most keroic 
spirits of tke day were engaged. We find tkat armies 
followed tke track of tke war patk, and tke Mokawk 
and upper Hudson were tke scenes of tkeir conflicts. 
Tke ferocity of tkis contest, and tke numbers engaged, 
in a region so sequestered and wild, were remarkable. 
Botk nations, looking upon tkese valleys as tke keys 
to tke wkole country, strove for tkeir possession. 
Every effort of diplomacy was made to gain tke alli- 
ance of tke Five Nations, and for a long time witk 
varied success. Tke Frenck establisked a colony at 
Onondaga. In 1690, a party of Frenck and Indians 
burned Sckenectady. In 1755, a bloody battle was 
fougkt at Lake George, between tke Frenck under 
Baron Dieskau, and tke Indians and Colonists, under 
Sir William Joknson. In 1756, Montcalm witk nine 
tkousand men captured Fort William Henry on tke 
same lake, and kis savage allies massacred fifteen 
kundred of its garrison. General Abercrombie, witk 



an army of sixteen thousand men, passed througli 
Lake George witli a fleet of more than one thousand 
boats, and made a desperate but unsuccessful attack on 
the French at Ticonderoga. His loss was more than 
two thousand killed, among whom was Lord Howe, 
one of the most chivalrous and heroic men of the 
British army. As a part of the same campaign, Fort 
Stanwix was built at Rome, and an ex]3edition was 
planned against Canada by way of Oswego. In 1Y57, 
Lord Chatham, determined to expel the French from 
this continent, placed Lord Amherst at the head of 
an army of fifty thousand men, a greater force than 
was employed against us at any time during the re- 
volutionary war. One division under Prideaux, was 
sent up the valley of the Mohawk to western New 
York, another under Wolfe up the St. Lawrence, 
while the main body under Amherst, moved thi'ough 
the valley of the uj^per Hudson, through Lake George 
and Lake Champlain, to Canada, where the concen- 
tration of forces was to complete the conquest of that 
province. This campaign ended in the capture of 
Quebec, the dramatic deaths of the rival heroes Wolfe 
and Montcalm, and the extinction of the French 
power on this portion of the continent. The expenses 
of that war constitute a large item in the present 
national debt of Great Britain. More than ten mil- 
lions of dollars were spent in foi'tifying Crown Point, 
although that fortress was never comj^leted. 

When the Bevolutionary contest began, these 
valleys, which had been the scenes of Indian warfare, 
and the equally savage contest between the British 
and the French, immediately became the theatre of a 



13 

continued and bloody struggle. Tlie whole region of 
the Mohawk was plunged into a civil war of the most 
ruthless character. The first capture of British arms 
and prisoners was made Ly Ethan Allen at Ticonde- 
roga, and the first naval battle of the Revolution, 
fought by Arnold on Lake Champlain. Knowing that 
the control of the Hudson would divide and destroy 
the power of the patriots, our enemies attempted to 
secure its possession. General Burgoyne, with his 
disciplined army, came down the valley of the upper 
Hudson. Lord Howe and Sir Henry Clinton, with a 
fieet, were to sail up that river, while St. Leger, with 
Indian forces, entered the valley of the Mohawk at 
Kome. Through these accustomed pathways of war, 
our State was assailed at once by the naval power, the 
disciplined armies, and the savage allies of the British 
empire. The defeat of the latter at Rome, and the 
surrender of Burgoyne, baffled this great combined 
movement, the most formidable made against our 
liberties. The battle of Saratoga achieved the free- 
dom of our country. It gained us the alliance of 
France, and substantially terminated the contest. In 
our last war with Great Britain, she acted uj)on the 
same idea of getting possession of these great avenues 
of this State, and thus dividing the power of our 
country. It was hoped, if thus separated from the rest 
of the Union, the inhabitants of New-England would 
not be unwilling to renew their allegiance to the British 
Crown. Her army, aided by her fleet, entered 
Northern New- York by Lake Champlain. Attacks 
were made upon Sacketts Harbor, designed to reach 
the valley of the Mohawk. The victories of Macomb 



14 

and McDonougli defeated tlie hopes of onr enemies at 
home and abroad, and terminated this last effort to 
concentrate hostile armies at the capital of our State. 

Since the invasion of the French from Canada, in 
1665, under De Courcelles, that part of New- York 
lying along Lake Champlain and the upper Hudson 
has been the field of strife and blood in fifteen cam- 
paigns. [See Elements of Military Art and Science, 
by H. Wager Halleck,] An equal if not greater num- 
ber of military expeditions or savage forays have been 
directed against its Western and Ontario borders, the 
valley of the Mohawk, and the head waters of the Sus- 
quehanna. The lower Hudson was the perpetual seat 
of war, during the Revolution. There is no part of 
our State which has not suffered from the contests of 
disciplined armies, or from the horrors of the torch 
and the scalping knife, in the hands of infuriated 
savages. New- York has been the battle-field of our 
country. 

I have not stopped, in this hasty recital, to call your 
attention to any of those circumstances which in such 
prolonged and varied contests have filled every part 
of New- York with histories of battles and traditions 
of personal bravery and suffering. Hereafter, they 
will afford fruitful themes for the historian, the novel- 
ist, and the poet. My purpose is to illustrate the re- 
markable position held by our State. 

These occurrences have thus followed in the same 
channels, not for casual but for enduring causes. The 
influences of these valleys have not been confined to 
guiding the tracks of war. Where war-paths led 
through deep forests ; where the standards of France 



15 

were borne hy cliivalrous warriors; where armies 
marclied in tlieir assaults upon our liberties ; where, at 
a later day, our own citizens went forth to meet the 
enemies of our country, you will now find the great 
avenues of commerce. They are crowded with vessels 
laden with the fruits of our soil ; sujiplying the wants 
not only of our own, but foreign lands. France and 
England are now looking to this country, which they 
have enriched with their blood, for the bread to feed 
their armies in the remote Crimea. Through these 
valleys greater armies than Europe can send forth to 
battle, are borne, not to violent deaths or lingering 
disease, but to homes on the fertile plains of the West. 
Once they were the paths of war ; to-day they 
are trod by the armies of peace. Look at the 
products carried through these channels of commerce ; 
trace back their transportation through great lakes, up 
winding rivers, or across vast plains, to the fields upon 
which they were tilled ; think of the toil bestowed 
upon them, the thousand hopes and fears, of pleasures 
and of sorrows, with which they are associated, and 
which yet cling to them in theii' course through our 
State ; and you will feel that the drama of life as here 
presented in emigration or commerce, is not of less 
dignity than the pomp and circumstance of war. 

The physical peculiarities of our State have had much 
to do with the first settlement of New- York ; with the 
character of its people ; with the foundations of its 
society ; with the development of statutory and con- 
stitutional law, and its influence over the policy of our 
whole country. Our commercial advantages brought 
us a cosmopolitan population from the outset. Com- 



16 

merce, the great agent of civilization, gave us, from 
tlie first, tlie best principles of government and of social 
and religions liberty tben known to tlie world. The 
rej)ort by Hendrick Hudson of the character of the 
bay and river he had discovered, led to its immediate 
settlement by the most heroic, intelligent and enter- 
prising people of the age. The princij^les of the Dutch 
made Holland the asylum of those who fled from re- 
ligious or political persecution. Their liberal views 
were imparted to the colonies they founded. By 
drawing to their settlements here, all nationalities and 
creeds, they made that toleration a law of necessity 
which at first was a measure of wise and humane 
policy. The world has never witnessed a scene of 
greater moral beauty than the Bay of New- York pre- 
sented under the Dutch government, and at a later 
day, while its just views of liberty continued to influ- 
ence the community it had founded. At a period 
when rights of conscience were not recognized in 
Europe, save in the limited territories of Holland, there 
were clustering around the beautiful harbor of New 
Amsterdam communities representing diflferent nation- 
alities and creeds, living in peaceful intercourse. The 
Hollanders and Swedes at Manhattan, the Waldenses 
upon Staten Island, the Walloons and English upon 
Long Island, and the Huguenots upon the banks of the 
Hudson, found here a refuge from religious j)ersecution. 
What civilized Europe denied them, they sought on 
this spot, stiU shaded by primeval forests, and still 
made picturesque by the gliding canoe of the savage. 
These exiles from Piedmont, from France, from the 
banks of the Rhine, and from Britain, lived here in 



11 

peaceful concord as strongly in contrast witli the 
bigotry and intolerance which prevailed elsewhere, as 
was their civilization and refinement to the wild scenes 
and savage tribes who surrounded them. At a later 
day, the persecuted Germans from the Palatinate were 
settled on the Mohawk. A colony of Scotch Highlan- 
ders, banished for their attachment to the Catholic re- 
ligion, and to the romantic fortunes of Charles Edward, 
found a home, not unlike their native hills and lakes, 
in the northern part of Montgomery county. The 
Protestant Irish established themselves in Otsea-o 
county, and there were settlements of French in Nor- 
thern and Western New-York. A small colony of 
Spaniards once existed near Onondaga Lake, but were 
destroyed by the Indians. The Welsh came to this 
country soon after the Eevolution. Almost every 
European tongue has ever been spoken at the firesides 
of our State, and used on each returning Sabbath in 
offerings of prayer and praise to the God of aU lan- 
guages and all climes. 

Nine names, prominent in the early history of New 
York and of the Union, represent the same number of 
nationalities. Schuyler was of Holland; Herkimer, 
of German ; Jay, of French ; Livingston, of Scotch ; 
Clinton, of Irish ; Morris, of Welsh ; and Hoffman, of 
Swedish descent. Hamilton was born in one of the 
English West India Islands, and Baron Steuben, who 
became a citizen of New-York after the close of the 
Revolutionary war, and who was buried in Oneida 
county, was a Prussian. 

As this was originally a Dutch colony, the character 
of that people, and their influence upon our institutions, 



18 

demand particular notice. These colonists came liere 
in tlie heroic age of Holland. She had then asserted 
and maintained her national independence in an une- 
qual contest of eighty years' duration against the co- 
lossal power of Spain, which, under Charles the Vth 
and his immediate successors, overshadowed and 
threatened the liberties of all Europe. This war with 
Spain excited the admiration of the world. It should 
also excite its gratitude. It was a contest for civil and 
religious liberty in behalf of mankind. After the 
close of this struggle, Plolland battled single handed 
against the combined powers of France and England. 
It was the age in which she produced Maurice, 
the greatest warrior of his times ; De Ruyter and 
Tromp, the ablest naval commanders ; Grotius, who is 
yet authority on international law ; and Barnevelt and 
the De Witts, the purest and most skillful statesmen. 
Twice in a century her people let the sea cover their 
land rather than it should be occupied by tyrannical 
023i:)ressors. Such was their love for knowledge, that 
when the Kepublic wished to reward the citizens of 
Leyden for their heroic defence of their town, they 
chose an institution of learning rather than commercial 
advantages, to perpetuate the remembrance of their 
patriotism. We should be j)roud that we derive so 
many of our political principles from this people. Nor 
is the debt of gratitude a local one. Holland was the 
asylum for the persecuted Puritans. It taught them 
the advantages of a republican form of government. 
Our obligations are broader than this — they are na- 
tional. Constitutional liberty was introduced into 
Great Britain by the revolution which placed upon the 



19 

British tlirone tlie Prince of Orange, wlio had recently 
commanded the armies of Holland against those of 
England. The accession of the Dutch monarch essen- 
tially modified the character of the British govern- 
ment, and invigorated sentiments of freedom in all of 
her colonies. 

The influences exerted by the fii'st American colonists 
upon the history and character of our people, involve 
inquiries of great interest, which throw light upon the 
princij^les of our institutions, and upon cjuestions which 
even at this time agitate the public mind. Their dis- 
cussion at times has excited feeling where there should 
be none. As a descendant of the Pilgrims, and a na- 
tive of New- York, I can speak upon this subject with- 
out partialities. We can clearly trace the influence of 
the Hollander and the Puiitan upon the course of 
public aftairs in our country. I select these two emi- 
grations, for they represent conflicting views of con- 
stitutional and legislative policies. The Puritan colo- 
nists have been the objects of indiscriminate ridicule, 
and of ecpally indiscriminate praise ; yet their char 
acters and views are clearly defined in their own trans- 
actions and histories. They had been engaged in long 
and bitter controversies. Those who came after the 
execution of Charles the 1st, had been involved in a 
civil war envenomed by religious prejudices. It was 
a contest in which there were no compromisers. In 
their successes, they had conceded no toleration — in 
their defeats, they received none. They fought to 
establish a religious power not only for their own ad- 
vantage, but for the control of others. Defeated in 
this struggle, they withdrew to the wilderness on this 



20 

side of tlie Atlantic, sternly brooding over tlieir 
defeats. They were made gloomy by tlie belief that 
they were contending not only against men, bnt against 
spiritual foes in bodily forms, and they fenced them- 
selves round with a charmed circle of austerities. They 
wished to be let alone in their remote retreats, and 
they resisted what they deemed the intrusions of 
heresy. They made no pretences to the views of re- 
ligious toleration now claimed for them. Their gov- 
ernment was partially a theocracy. They believed 
the Quakers were heretics, and they were banished ; 
they believed that some were in intercourse with 
the evil spirits, and they were burned ; f they could 
not understand the principles of religious freedom 
advocated by Roger Williams, and they drove him 
out of the land. They persecuted others as they 
had been persecuted. They were made harsh by suf- 
fering and sacrifices. But this is the dark side of their 
character. They were vigorous and self-reliant. A 
common poverty destroyed distinctions of rank. 
None were rich enough to establish the manorial es- 
tates or privileges which were created in New York. 
They were industrious and enterj^rising. Their relig- 
ious doctrines led them to value education as a means 
of spiritual and intellectual imj^rovement. As they 

I Note. — " The mischief wrought by this delusion was wide spread and ter- 
rible. Society was paralyzed with alarm. Evil spirits were thought to over- 
shadow the land. When the Royal Veto arrived, twenty persons had been 
executed, fifty-five had been tortured or terrified into a confession of witch- 
craft, one hundred and fifty were in prison, and two hundred more had been 
accused." — {PageAAl, 1st Vol. of Lossing'' & Field Book of the Revolution.) At 
this time, the population of the colony was small. The Statutes of Massa- 
chusetts against witchcraft, and its sumptuary and pragmatic laws, are in 
striking contrast with the enlightened legislation of New Netherlands. 



21 

spoke a common language, education was rapidlj 
spread tliroughout the community. Under these in- 
fluences the individuals became superior to the spirit 
of their laws. None do so much injury to their 
characters as those who, with bad taste, try to soften 
their stern aspects with inconsistent adornments and 
graces, or, with still worse logic, insist that they had 
principles of toleration with practices of persecution. 
Let them alone, in their clear and decided characters, 
as men of rol>ust virtues and grave faults. Let the 
circumstances of their history excuse their wrong do- 
ings. From them we get many virtues and advan- 
tages ; we get elsewhere our best conceptions of civil 
and rehgious liberty. 

The colony of New- York, in its leading features, 
was the reverse of that of Massachusetts. I have al- 
luded to the character of the Dutch people of the iTth 
century. The Hollanders not only tolerated, but in- 
vited different nationalities and creeds to their new 
settlement. More enlightened than their age, they 
had made great advances in civil and religious liberty. 
They rejoiced in the cosmopolitan character of their 
inhabitants. The rebuke given by the Directors to 
one of their Governors, who was inclined to persecute 
the Quakers, is a clear and beautiful illustration of 
their sentiments : — " Let every one remain free as long 
as he is modest, moderate, his political conduct irre- 
proachable, and as long as he does not offend others 
or oppose the government. This maxim of modera- 
tion has always been the guide of our magistrates in 
this city, (Amsterdam,) and the consequence has 
been that people have flocked from every land to this 



22 

Asylum, Tread, tlien, in their steps, and we doubt 
not you will be blest." 

It needs no argument to show wbere religious free- 
dom was most resjjected. The Walloons, the Wal- 
denses, the Huguenots, and many from the eastern col- 
onies,'"' flying from persecution and clustering around 
the harbor of New- York, mark the spot where liberty 
and toleration were presented in their most attractive 
aspects. It requires no discussion to prove whence 
we 2:et our best ideas of constitutional and commercial 
law and municipal freedom. Not from England, de- 
pressed by the tyranny of the Plantagenets, the Tu- 
dors and the Stuarts, for long centuries down to the 
period of the settlement of this country ; but from 
republican Holland, the " Venice of the North," the 
" Queen of the Seas," who, while struggling against 
the power of Spain, " grasped the commerce of the 
world, and made it to supply the means to wage her 
unequal war with tyranny and wrong." On the other 
hand, the vigor of character, the appreciation of edu- 
cation and religion derived from the Puritans, are 
manifested in every quarter of our land ; in public and 

* The Listorian DeLaet says that numbers, nay, whole towns, to escape 
from the insuiiportable government of some of the New England colonies, 
removed to Kew Netherlands to enjoy that liberty denied them by their own 
countrymen. Throg's Neck, in Westchester county, was settled by Throg- 
morton, and thirty-five families which were driven from Massaehiisetts with 
Roger Williams. Gi-avesend, on Long Island, Avas founded by Lady Moody 
and her "followers, who for the same reason sought shelter under the liberal 
government of New Netherlands. So many of this class came here, that, to 
prevent the disturbance of harmony and social intercourse by the iacoming 
of so many strangers to reside here, an English secretary to the Council was 
appointed. As the early immigrants from New England were induced to 
come here by the superiority of our laws, they were active supporters of 
intelligent and liberal legislation. 



23 

private enterprises. Our people required and possess 
the characteristics derived from both of these sources. 
He who would seek to deprive the Hollanders or the 
Puritans of their just share of veneration, is unworthy 
to be the descendant of either. 

The Dutch had, then, a republican government. 
Our great political maxims were recognized there. 
" Unity makes might" was a motto, and " taxation only 
by consent" a principle. They originated the vital 
principles of our mstitutions — municipal and township 
organizations, and the great conception of local self- 
government. While the ^dews and practices of gov- 
ernment of the first settlers of this State were so supe- 
rior to those of the New England colonies, there were 
causes which made the former less intelligent as a peo- 
ple. Their clergy and teachers were learned men, and 
academies were established at an early day ; but this 
learning was lost when the English language was gen- 
erally used. The diversities of nationalities and 
tongues in this colony were unfavorable to the dissem- 
ination of learning, as each people recpiired distinct 
teachers and systems of education. The most unfavor- 
able influence was the creation of large estates by 
grants from the government, which were commenced 
by the Dutch and continued by the English authori- 
ties. This practice created a class of tenants, or com- 
pelled the colonists to buy their lands of the large 
owners ; it also made great social distinctions and was 
injurious to the people. Although theii* principles of 
government were superior to those of New England, 
the mass of the people was thus made less active and 
enterprising. It is remarkable how enduring the in- 



24 

fluences of tliese facts have been. The population of 
New- York and New England are about equal. If you 
go to the Western States, you will find a large share 
of its enterprises in the hands of emigrants from New 
England, while the political institutions are moulded 
after New- York; you will find the enterprise and 
mechanical skill with the former, while the judiciary 
of this State is everywhere recognized as controlling 
in legal questions. Our judges settle principles of 
jurisprudence for two thirds of the Union. 

The influence New-York has exercised over the 
constitutional history of our country, is owing to the 
superiority of its political principles during the colo- 
nial and revolutionary eras. The United States of 
the Netherlands presented all the leading features of 
the United States of America, although their adjust- 
ments were less perfect. It was a Republic made up 
of several distinct communities, united for common 
defence, but retaining rights of separate self-govern- 
ment ; its government was re]3resentative. Its great 
leading featui'e was its municipal corporations and 
subdivisions in the nature of townshi];)s, with rights of 
local legislation. Acting upon this principle in our 
own State, the several towns manage their own affairs : 
our boards of Supervisors transact the business of the 
counties, the legislatures make laws concerning the 
Sovereign States, while the general government is in- 
vested with powers and restrained by limitations 
which only give it jurisdiction in matters of national 
defence, dignity or importance. It is this system 
which secures the good government of every part of 
our country. It has been the growing appreciation 



25 

of its value whicli has constantly carried jurisdiction 
from general to local trihiinals. Tlie higher govern- 
ments have been made less powerful and less liable 
to become injurious from corruption or ambition, by 
giving legislative rights to the more humble, economical 
and safer control of town and county officers. The 
germ of this principle existed in the government of 
the United Provinces; its full exposition has only 
been seen in this country; and its value and impor- 
tance shown on the broad theatre of our land, where 
it has preserved the integrity of our Union, and dis- 
appointed the hopes or predictions of those who fore- 
told its early dissolution as a necessary consequence 
of its expansion. The Dutch principle of " No taxa- 
tion without consent," lay at the foundation of our 
Revolution; and their motto that "Unity makes 
might," taught us how to uphold that princij^le ; and 
its municipal corporations and its local legislatures were 
the types of our political institutions. 

Not only were the colonists of New- York imbued 
with sentiments of freedom, but they had the earhest 
and most urgent occasions to assert them. Living 
without the protection of a charter, for a long time 
under the control of the private ownership of the 
Dutch West India Company and of the Duke of York, 
amid the unfavorable influences of great seigniories, as 
early as 1690 they boldly claimed their legislative 
rights, and resisted " Taxation without consent." The 
contests with the Royal Governor were conducted on 
the part of the colonists with signal ability, and their 
protests and arguments were pronounced by Attorney 
General Randolph, of Virginia, to be the ablest expo- 



26 

sitions of the riglit^ of popular representatives. These 
eontrovemes involved a wide range of discussion, and 
thoroughly instructed the people of the colony in the 
principles of constitutional liberty. The contest which 
commenced in Xew-York, between its legislatm-es and 
the Eoyal Govemoi^. extended to other colonies, and 
excited the public mind fi'om time to time until the 
era of the Eevolution. The whole of the American 
people were then united against the aggressions of the 
Crown. The resolutions of the Xew-York Assembly 
against the stamp act were di'awn up with consummate 
ability, imd, to use the language of Pitkin, " breathed 
a spirit more bold and decided than those from any 
other colony." In 1754, a convention of delegates 
from the several colonies, held in the capital of our 
State, which was attended by Benjamin Franklin imd 
other eminent men, drew up a plan for colonial union 
for protection against the French and Indians, This 
proposition prepared the minds of the American peo- 
ple for a similar measui'e to resist British tyranny, and 
most appropriately the motto of Holland that " Unity 
makes might," was first acted upon in the city she had 
founded. In 1775, a provincial congress assembled 
in the city of Xew-York, and was the first of those 
illustrious councils, which, in the language of Lord 
Chatham, " ^ith soli<lity of reasoning, force of saga- 
city, and wisdom of conclusion, ascertained, vindicated 
and established the liberties of America," 

I shall not dwell upon the Bevolutionary contest. 
In its progress, it carried war and desolation into dif- 
ferent sections of our country. Elsewhere, it swept 
like the tornado in its course, but its visitations, while 



27 

destructive, were temporary. In this State, its tlmn- 
derings never ceased, its baleful fires were never 
quenched, during tlie whole struggle. On the Mohawk, 
it was attended with aU the horrors of civil war, made 
more revolting and terrible by savage barbarities. The 
whole length of this gentle valley was desolated by 
the sword and bayonet, the torch and tomahawk. 

When it was determined to sever our connexion 
with Great Britain, Congress recommended the form- 
ation of governments in all the colonies, equal to the 
demands of their new independence. All of the States 
save two followed the recommendation. The consti- 
tution formed in Xew-York, amid the confusion of the 
Revolution, is a proof of the profound knowledge of 
its leading men in the principles of civil liberty, good 
government and constitutir>nal law. Its superiority 
was universally admitted, and it was received with 
great favor, not only in the State, but elsewhere. 
" Our constitution,"' says Jay, in a letter to the Presi- 
dent of the convention, " is universally approved, even 
in Xew England, where few Xew-York productions 
have credit." [See Hon. B. F. Butler's Address be- 
fore the New- York Historical Society.] 

AH of the State constitutions recognized in express 
terms the natui*al and absolute right of every man to 
woKhip God ac<;ording to the dictates of his own 
conscience, yet the constitutions of Xew-York and 
Virgin i a alone were free from provisions repugnant to 
these declarations. 

Greiit injustice has been done to the early instru- 
mentality of Xew-York in the cause of American inde- 
pendence. The peculiar situation of the Province — 



28 

witliout a cliarter, tlie arbitrary conduct of many of 
the Royal Governors, tlie questions growing out of 
tlieir acts and pretensions — compelled the people of 
this State to place tliemselves, from tlie beginning, on 
tlie liigb grounds of natural and inherent rights. 
Elsewhere these contests frequently grew out of ques- 
tions about the construction of charters. 

Still greater injustice has been done to the services 
of the early statesmen of New- York in the formation 
of our national constitution, and in the tone of con- 
struction given to that instrument, when our govern- 
ment was iii'st organized. I have shown why they 
were well trained in the great principles of govern- 
ment ; that they drew theii' sentiments from the best 
som^ces, the only free and republican government 
then existing. When the independence of the colo- 
nies was achieved by the common patriotism of our 
countrymen, a greater task remained to be done. The 
confederation was temporary in its character, and in- 
sufficient for a bond of union when the outward pres- 
sm'e of war was withdrawn. We occupied a vast coun- 
try, which presented a great variety of climate and 
condition. There was no power to coerce these con- 
flicting interests. To reconcile them appeared impos- 
sible. To dissolve again into the original separate 
communities involved wars, standing armies, and the 
weakness which would make us a prey to European 
nations. It was then almost universally assumed that 
the strength of a government depended upon the 
amount of its privileges and the extent of its jurisdic- 
tion. The European statesmen declared we could not 
create a government with power enough to make it 



29 

stable, wliich would not in its action, trample on some 
of tlie varied interests of onr land. Out of Holland 
there were no clear conceptions of a government wliicli 
was not tlie source of power, instead of being its recip- 
ient from tbe mass of the people. The United Pro- 
vinces of the Netherlands were so limited in extent 
and so homogeneous in character, that they afforded no 
clear rule for our action. Under these circumstan- 
ces, the duty of forming a government was entered 
upon by the patriots of our country. In the conven- 
tion which framed it, two great antagonistic ideas were 
at once developed, and they have, under different 
phases, divided the public mind from that day to this. 
On the one hand it was held, that to make a govern- 
ment strong and enduring, it should have a large 
amount of jurisdiction ; that its strength and endu- 
rance would be determined by the extent of its pow- 
er. The opposing party held, that the strength and 
permanency of government grew out of limitations of 
authority, restraining it from acting u^on questions 
which would bring it into conflict with the views of 
different sections of our broad land. They also held 
that the most beneficent legislation would be secured 
by such distribution of political power, that different 
localities should direct those affairs which most con- 
cerned their own interests and happiness. These con- 
siderations were connected with the j^rincijile of rejD- 
resentation. If it was to be a government of great 
jurisdiction, it was a matter of deep concern to know 
who would direct it. It was urged by some that rep- 
resentation should be graduated by poj)ulation. This 
would give control to a few large States. It was con- 



30 

tended by otliers that the several States were sover- 
eignties standing upon equal grounds, and therefore 
entitled to equal voices in the common government. 
That this was the only security against the centraliza- 
tion of political power. The three great States of 
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, insisted 
upon representations in the Senate and House of 
Eepresentatives in proportion to population. New- 
York, alone, of the large States, declared that she did 
not ask nor would she take a representation in either 
branch of the National Legislature beyond what was 
allowed to the feeblest member in the confederacy. 
To my mind, this forms the noblest passage in the 
history of our State. Her future greatness was then 
apparent, yet she had the magnanimity to rise above 
the temptations of power, and the superior wisdom to 
see the necessity of forming a government of limited 
jurisdiction, and of upholding local sovereignties. 
When this principle of perfect equality was invaded 
in the formation of the House of Representatives, the 
majority of her delegates withdrew from the conven- 
tion, and this State, for a long time, refused to ratify 
the constitution, and only yielded its ultimate assent 
upon the express understanding that it should be so 
amended that doubtful or implied powers would be 
cut off. The noble and resolute stand taken by New- 
York induced the national convention to limit the au- 
thority of Congress. It also did much to secure 
amendments to the constitution which contain guar- 
antees of the rights of the states and the liberties of the 
citizen. It was New- York that took the foremost stand 
in favor of State rights and local self-government ; those 



31 

vital j)rmciples of our political system which baffled the 
predictions of European statesmen, that the original 
thirteen states could not be held together under one 
government. Principles which to this day bind to- 
gether our land, although it has extended threefold, 
until it is as broad as all Europe. 

Questions relative to the authority which govern- 
ments ought to possess, have entered largely into our 
political discussions. I can say, without touching up- 
on partizan grounds, that the policy of decentrali- 
zation of political power has constantly gained favor 
with the American people. It is generally supposed 
this doctrine had its origin in Virginia. The delegates 
from that State in the national convention, contended 
for large grants of authority to the general government. 

It has been truthfully said that the wisdom of our 
institutions exceeds the wisdom of their founders. 
They established principles of more scope and influ- 
ence than their authors foresaw. The germ of the 
Township system existed in Holland, was introduced 
from thence, and perfected here by causes independ- 
ent of the political sagacity of our fathers. The con- 
dition of our country is rapidly developing this 
policy. Equality of rank and the necessities of a 
thin population on the borders of a boundless wilder- 
ness, made all other arrangements unsuitable. It 
was most rapidly spread in New England, for the 
growth of her colonies was the most rapid. For 
this reason it has been supposed by many historians 
to be of New England origin. More correct investi- 
gations into governmental history, show that it was a 
feature in the government of Holland long before the 



32 

settlement of America. Tlie relatiousLIps wliich that 
country bore to New Netherlands and to tlie pilgrims, 
entitle it to tlie honor of its introduction here. It is 
undoubtedly true that at first it was regarded merely 
as a convenient mode of conducting public affairs, and 
that it had no higher value in the minds of the early 
colonists. None foresaw its future importance. This 
system of local self-government keeps at home the 
mass of political power. It yields it to the remoter 
legislative bodies in diminishing proportion as they re- 
cede from the direct influence and action of the peo- 
ple; it does not regard the central government as 
the source of authority, from which it percolates in 
limited measures to the lower jurisdictions. The vital 
principle of self-government is not the mere dema- 
goguical idea that the people, in their collective capac- 
ity, are endowed with a wisdom, patriotism and vir- 
tue superior to their individual characters. On the 
contrary, the people as a society are as virtuous or as 
vicious, as intelligent or as ignorant, as brave or as 
cowardly, as the persons who compose it, and 
will always be ^dewed accordingly, by every straight- 
forward man. The great theory of local self-govern- 
ment under which our countiy is expanding itself 
over our continent, without becoming weak by its ex- 
tension, is founded upon these propositions. That 
government is most wise, which is in the hands of those 
best informed about the particular questions on which 
they legislate ; most economical and honest, when in 
the hands of those most interested in preserving fru- 
gality and virtue ; most strong, when it only exercises 
authority which is beneficial in its action to the gov- 



33 

erned. These are obvious truths, but how are they 
to be made available for practical purposes ? It is in 
this that the wisdom of our institutions consists. In 
their progress, they are developing truths in govern- 
ment which have not only disappointed the hopes of 
our enemies and dissipated the fears of our friends, but 
give promise in the future of such greatness and civ- 
ilization as the world has never seen. 

The legislation which most affects us is local in its 
character. The good order of society, the protection 
of our lives and our property, the promotion of reli- 
gion and learning, the enforcement of statutes, or the 
uj)holding of the unwritten laws of just moral re- 
straints, mainly depend upon the virtue and wisdom of 
the inhabitants of townships. Upon such questions 
so far as they particularly concern themselves the 
people of the town of Kirkland, in the county of 
Oneida, are more intelligent and more interested, than 
those outside of their limits can be for them. The 
wisest statesmen, living and acting at the city of 
Washington, cannot understand these affairs, nor can 
they conduct them as well as the citizens upon the 
ground. What is true of Kirkland, is true of the 
other ten thousand towns in the United States. 
When we shall have fifty thousand towns, this system 
of government will in no degree become overloaded 
nor complicated. There will be no more for each 
citizen to do than now. Our town of&cers in the ag- 
gregate are more important than congressmen or 
senators. Hence the importance to our government 
of religion, morality and education, which enlighten 
and purify the governed and the governor at the 



M 

same time, and wliicli must ever constitute the best 
securities, botli for the advancement and happiness 
of our country. The next organizations, in order 
and in importance, are boards of county officers, 
who control questions of a local character, but affect- 
ing more than the inhabitants of single towns. The 
people of the county of Oneida are more intelligent, 
and more interested in what concerns their own 
affairs, than any amount of wisdom, or of patriotism, 
outside of it. The aggregate transactions of our 
supervisors are more important than those of our State 
Legislature. When we have secured good govern- 
ment in towns and counties, most of the objects of 
good government are gained. In the ascending scale 
of rank, and in the descending scale of importance, is 
the Legislature,^which is, or should be, limited to State 
affairs. Its greatest wisdom is shown by the smallest 
amount of legislation, and its strongest claims upon 
our gratitude grows out of what it does not do. Our 
general government is remarkable for being the re- 
verse of every other system. Instead of being the 
source of authority, it only receives the remnant of 
power after all that concern town, county and state 
jurisdictions have been distributed. Its jurisdiction, 
although confined within narrow limits, is of great dig- 
nity, for it concerns our national honor, and provides 
for the national defence. We make this head of our 
system strong, by confining its action to those objects 
which are of general interest and value, and by prevent- 
ing its interference with subjects upon which it cannot 
act with a due degree of intelligence. If our general 
government had the legislative power, which is now 



35 

divided between town, county and state jurisdiction, 
its attempts at their exercise would shiver it into 
atoms. If it was composed of the wisest and purest 
men the world ever saw, it could not understand all 
the varied interests of a land as wide as all Europe, 
and with as great a diversity of climate, soil, and 
social condition. The welfare of the several commu- 
nities would be constantly sacrificed to the ignorance, 
the interests, or prejudices of those who had no direct 
interest in the laws they imposed upon others. Under 
our system of government, the right to interfere is less 
than the disposition many shew to meddle with what 
they do not understand ; and over every section of our 
great country, there are local jurisdictions, familiar 
with their wants, and interested in doing what is for 
the right. It required seven centuries to reform 
palpable wrongs in enlightened Britain, simply be- 
cause the powers of its government, concentrated in 
Parliament, Vere far removed from the sufferings and 
injuries those wrongs occasioned. Under our institu- 
tions, evils are at once removed, when intelhgence 
and \irtue have shown them in their true light to the 
communities in which they exist. As intelligence, 
virtue and religion are thus potential, let us rely upon 
them as the genial influences which will induce men to 
throw off the evils which encumber them, and not re- 
sort to impertinent meddling, howling denunciations, 
and bitter taunts, which prompt individuals and com- 
munities to draw the folds of wrong more closely 
about them. 

The theory of local self government, is not founded 
upon the idea that the people are necessarily vii-tuous 



36; 

and intelligent, but it attempts to distribute eacb 
particular power to those who have the greatest 
interest in its wise and faithful exercise. It gives to 
townships and counties and states, the right to direct 
their local affairs, because they are most intelligent 
about their own concerns. We know there are indi- 
viduals wiser and better than the mass of these com- 
munities, but it acts upon the principle which governs 
us in private matters. When we are sick, we do not 
seek the wisest or the best man, but the wisest phy- 
sician. If we wish to build, we do not look after the 
most learned man, but the most skilful mechanic. In 
the selection of agents, we choose those who are most 
interested in serving us faithfully. Acting upon 
these simple principles, the tendency of j)ublic oj^inion 
has constantly been in favor of taking power from 
central points, and distributing it to those who have 
the strongest motives, and the best intelligence for 
its judicious exercise. 

This system not only secures good government for 
each locality, but it also brings home to each indivi- 
dual a sense of his rights and responsibilities ; it ele- 
vates his character as a man ; he is taught self reli- 
ance ; he learns that the performance of his duty as a 
citizen is the best corrective for the evils of society, 
and is not led to place a vague, unfounded dependence 
upon legislative wisdom or insj^irations. The princi- 
ple of local and distributed jurisdiction, not only 
makes good government, but it also makes good man- 
hood. Under European governments, but few feel 
that they can exert any influence upon public morals 
or affaii's, but here, every one knows that his charac- 



37 

ter and conduct will at least affect the character and 
interests of the town in which he lives. 

The conviction gains ground that the general go- 
vernment is strengthened and made most enduring, 
by lifting it above invidious duties, and making it the 
point, about which rally the affections and pride of 
the American people, as the exponent to the world 
at large, of our common power, dignity, and nation- 
ality. 

The advancement of our State since the termina- 
tion of the last war with Britain has been unparal- 
leled. It was among the first to establish a permanent 
and comprehensive system of popular education. Our 
Judiciary has ever been distinguished for its learning 
and probity. The work of reconstructing the whole 
body of statutory laws, originated in this State, and 
its successful completion received the applause of the 
most distinguished statesmen of other countries. The 
first steamboat, of the many thousands which navi- 
gate the rivers or oceans of the world, was launched 
in our waters and floated upon the Hudson. The first 
canal for commerce in the United States, was made 
by its early enterprise. At this time, we have a con- 
nected line of artificial navigation, more than a thou- 
sand miles in length. The first link of the twenty- 
five thousand miles of railroad, which traverse the 
United States, was made by the public spirit of its 
citizens. Its numbers, which, at the close of the Re- 
volution, were less than the present population of the 
counties of Oneida and Erie, then uninhabited save 
by savages, are to-day more than three millions. We 
are, by virtue of our population, j)osition, and consti- 



ttitional rights, tlie foremost member of our Union. 

My purpose in this imperfect sketcli of New York, 
lias been to point out its remarkable geographical 
position, to do justice to the first colonists, to vindi- 
cate the claims of its early statesmen to the gratitude 
of our whole country, and to call attention to the pa- 
triotism of its people. 

Heretofore, our citizens have been unjust to the 
history of theii' State. While our brethren, in other 
portions of the Union, have, with becoming and pa- 
triotic pride, recorded the services of their ancestors, 
and -have erected monuments to commemorate the 
great events which have occurred within their terri- 
tories, we have been indifferent to the glorious annals 
of the past. We are more familiar with the early 
history of New England or Virginia than with our 
own. Theii' citizens have, with pious care, recorded 
the patriotic services of their fathers, and have 
rendered them familiar to the entire population of 
our Union. While I have, on this occasion, briefly at- 
tempted to present to your consideration, some of the 
prominent features in the history of our State, it must 
not be supposed that I desire to institute any invidi- 
ous comparisons between New York and the other 
members of this glorious confederacy. I only wish to 
induce you to follow their example of proper rever- 
ence for the memory of their fathers. While a 
monument towers uj^on Bunker's Hill, exciting a just 
pride in the hearts of the citizens of Massachusetts, 
and respect in the minds of strangers, for the State 
where Freedom's battle was begun, why is it that no 
stone marks the spot upon the plains of Saratoga, 



39 

where ^Freedom's figlit was won? Every schoolboy 
in our land is taught that the first blood in the Re- 
volutionary struggle was shed at Concord ; how many 
of our citizens know that the first surrender of a 
British flag or weapon was made at Ticonderoga ? 
The traveler who sails through Long Island Sound, 
sees on the shores of Connecticut, the monument 
which tells of the massacre of brave patriots on the 
Heights of Groton. But what is there to remind him 
who passes through the valley of the Mohawk, of the 
thousands who were slaughtered by ruthless savages, 
during the French war and the Revolutionary con- 
test? We have all been made famihar with the 
services which the statesmen of Virginia have render- 
ed to the cause of civil liberty or constitutional law ; 
while few are instructed that the earliest contests be- 
tween the rights of the people and the pretended pre- 
rogatives of the crown, were commenced and most 
strenuously maintained by the popular delegates, in 
the colonial Legislatures of this State. The states- 
men and the poets of New England strive to perpet- 
uate the memories of the Pilgrim Fathers, to record 
their sufferings, and to hallow the very spots upon 
which they trod. Plymouth Rock has been made a 
sacred shrine where they annually pour forth their 
gratitude for the civil and political blessings which 
they enjoy. But, how little is known of the more 
varied, and more interesting emigration to the shores 
of our own state. While we honor the Pilgrim 
Fathers, let us not forget the Hollanders, who made 
earlier settlements upon our shores, who made the 
harbor of New- York a place of refuge from bigotry, 
intolerance and wrong. 



40 

The past is full of noble examples animating us 
with patriotic love of our state and nation, but we 
must not confine our attention to the past. The pre- 
sent and the future liave their obligations. Our geo- 
graphical position imposes upon us peculiar duties in 
our relations to the rest of the Union. The progress 
of our nation will lessen the comparative importance 
of other States, however important they may be. It 
will be otherwise with us. Commanding the great 
avenues of commerce, of intercourse, and of events, 
we grow with the growth of our country. It is our 
duty to emulate the patriotism of our Fathers ; to 
maintain the rights of the several States ; to preserve 
their Union, by confining the central government to 
the exercise of powers designed for the common 
dignity, defence and welfare ; and to restrain those 
sectional passions and prejudices, which are apt to 
grow up in States, whose isolated positions do not give 
them the advantages we enjoy, of constant intercourse 
with the citizens of every part of our broad land. 

In all that concerns New York, let us not only be 
mindful of the past, but in every thing that affects 
the education, morality, progress and patriotism of 
our State, be animated by the spirit of the motto em- 
blazoned upon its shield — 

EXCELSIOR. 

KoTE. — The 1st volume of the History of New York, by J. R. Brodhead, Esq., 
is devoted to an account of events during the Dutch Administration. The 
thorough acquaintance of the Author with the early History of this State, 
has enabled him to make this part of his work interesting in the highest de- 
gree. His next volume will commence with the surrender of the colony to 
the British government. 

A new Edition of the valuable History of New York, by Mr. O'Callaghan, 
will soon be given to the public. In addition to these works, we need a 
condensed History of this State, which should be illustraLed by Mr. Lossing, 
after the manner of his " Field Book of the Revolution." 



41 

r exti'act the following paragraphs from aa eloquent address delivered by 
C. F. Hoffman, before the St. Nicholas Society, in 184Y : — 

" Whether the French, after drawing their wonderful line of forts, which 
extended through the western wilderness from Quebec to New Orleans — 
wliether they really ever hoped to cut a jjuth to the Atlantic by the way of 
the Hudson, it is now difficult to say. But long previous to Leisles's ill- 
starred attempt to expel theia from Canada, and down, to the period when 
Wolfe triumphed at Quebec, the old chronicles which record the formidable 
descent of Count Frontignae, the massacre of Schenectady, and other inroads 
of Hurons and Adirondacks, led on by French officers, tell us repeatedly of 
sudden taxes levied, and men warned to hold themselves ready in arms, 
even in the city of JN'ew York itself — so remote from the scene of the never- 
ending border strife. 

"The first reall}' formidable inroad from 'Xew France,' as Canada was 
then called, was that of De Traeey, Dc Chaumont, and De Courcelles, in 
1666, with twelve hundred French soldiers and one thousand Indians. De 
Bari'e's descent with seventeen hundred men, followed in 1685. The burning 
of Schenectady in 1690, made their next attack memorable. In 1691, they 
were again within fifteen miles of Albany. In 1693, they were repulsed 
from Schenectady by Peter Schuyler In 1695, three hundred of their 
soldiers made a lodgment at Oswego, while five hundred were driven out of 
New York by way of Lake Cliumplain. 

"In 1696, one of the best aj'jiointed armies that ever displayed upon this 
continent, an army led on by an array of Counts, Barons, and Chevaliei's, 
with full battering train, complete camp equipage, and comissariat amply 
provided, penetrated as far as Onondaga Lake. The peace of Kyswick 
brought a breathing spell to the province. But in 1710 the old l)order 
struggle was renewed, and the province remained an armed camp till the 
peace of Utrecht in 1713. Again the province is in arms and mai'ching upon 
the French at jSingara in 1727. And the enemy penetrated to Saratoga and 
ci:t off thirty families in a night in 17-17. 

The battle of Lake George, where Sir William Johnson won his spurs, and 
where eight hundred of the invaders, under Dieskuu, Avere left dead n])on the 
field, brings us to 1755. The assault of the Marquis of Montcalm on Fort 
Ontario, with four thoiisand troops, follows; and the massacre of Fort 
William and Henry, with the devastation of (Jerman Flats on the Mohawk, 
by the invaders, brings us to (1758) the duplicate battle of Lake George, 
when seventeen tliousand men, under Abercrombie, were defeated by the 
French; the reduction of Fort Frontinac, on Lake Ontario, by three thou- 
sand provincials, the fight with the galleys on Lake Champlain, and the 
different affairs of Crown Point and Tieonderoga. 

" Within the seven years of the War for Independence, the battle of Long 
Island, the battle of White Plains, the storming of Stony Point, the aftair of 
Fort Montaomery, the burning of Kingston, the sanguinary struggles of 
Cherry Valley and the Mohawk, with Oriskanj', the bloodiest field of all 
our Revolutionary confliets, and Saratoga the most glorious, crowd in with 
Niagara, Tieonderoga, and Crown Point, to mark their names yet again upon 
the blazing tablet of our military annals. And still once more, in 1814, the 
events at Fort Frie and Sackett's Harbor, at Champlain, and Niagara, swell 
the records of fierce conflicts upon her soil, and approve New York the bat- 
tle-field of the Union, the Flanders of American History. 



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